Dental restorations are often manufactured by an automated process, which typically includes:                capturing the shape of a patient's teeth, for example by scanning a plaster model of the patient's teeth or alternatively by scanning the actual teeth in the patient's mouth;        designing the shape of a dental restoration precursor based on the captured shape using a computer-aided design (CAD) software; and        machining the dental restoration precursor to correspond to the designed shape, for example, by an automated Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machine.        
It is desirable that the dental restoration has an appearance that matches or approximates the appearance of adjacent teeth. The appearance of natural teeth is on the one hand provided by color shades, and further by a certain translucency. A dental technician or a dental practitioner, for example, typically selects the color of the ceramic material to be used for the dental restoration according to the teeth in a patient's mouth that are located next to the tooth or teeth to be restored. For example, the appearance of relevant teeth in a patient's mouth may be determined using shade guides and an appropriate color shade for the framework and the veneer may be selected accordingly. Exemplary shade guide types are available under the designations “VITA Classical Shade Guide” or “VITA Toothguide 3D-Master®” from the company VITA Zahnfabrik H. Rauter GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. General types of materials for dental restorations are typically selected to meet certain mechanical and aesthetic requirements, which are for example the desired color and/or translucency.
Manufacturers of dental materials often offer dental restorative materials in a variety of different color shades, and a dental technician or a dental practitioner usually selects the shade of the material that is closest to the desired shade. Many approaches have been tried to provide dental restorative materials in color shades that match the desired color as closely as possible. There are also dental restorative materials in the form of milling or grinding blocks, which exhibit a certain pre-determined color gradation to approximate the appearance of the finished dental toward the appearance of a natural tooth.
Although the current approaches for manufacturing of dental restorations may provide a variety of advantages, there is still a desire for a method of manufacturing dental restorations in a reproducible, cost efficient manner and at a good aesthetic quality.